The First ‘Shazam!’ Trailer Is Here to Lighten Up the DCEU

In the week leading up to Comic-Con, Warner Bros. has offered up a few photographic sneak peeks at Shazam! — the upcoming DC Films title starring Zachary Levi as the eponymous superhero. The first official teaser trailer for the film has arrived by way of this afternoon’s star-studded WB panel at Comic-Con, and, as many hoped, it looks like Shazam! is coming to lighten the DCEU up a bit.

Based on the DC Comics title, Shazam! follows young Billy Batson, a boy who is granted the ability to transform into the Zachary Levi-sized alter ego by uttering the word, “SHAZAM” — an acronym for the six immortal elders (Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury). Shazam has your typical super-human abilities: Super-strength, super-speed, heightened agility, the power to fly, et al. He’s also kind of a charming goofball, as evidenced by the first trailer. And by charming I mean “man-child,” but that can be charming…in a way.

Directed by David F. Sandberg (Lights Out), Shazam! has been described as a superhero movie version of Big, and I dunno if I’m buying that just yet — but here’s what the official synopsis has to say:

We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In Billy Batson’s (Angel) case, by shouting out one word—SHAZAM!—this streetwise 14-year-old foster kid can turn into the adult Super Hero Shazam (Levi), courtesy of an ancient wizard. Still a kid at heart—inside a ripped, godlike body—Shazam revels in this adult version of himself by doing what any teen would do with superpowers: have fun with them! Can he fly? Does he have X-ray vision? Can he shoot lightning out of his hands? Can he skip his social studies test? Shazam sets out to test the limits of his abilities with the joyful recklessness of a child. But he’ll need to master these powers quickly in order to fight the deadly forces of evil controlled by Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Strong).